Dubai taxi fares: what goes on the meter

How a Dubai taxi fare is calculated

RTA, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, sets one formula for every metered taxi in the emirate. The fare is a starting fare, plus a charge for distance, plus waiting time. Area fees and road tolls go on top when the trip passes them.

Part of the fare	When it applies	Amount (RTA, checked 17 October 2026)
Starting fare	When the meter starts	AED 5 to AED 25, by channel and time
Kilometre charge	For every kilometre driven	Shown on the meter
Waiting time	Minutes the meter records as waiting	50 fils a minute
Minimum fare	The least any trip costs	AED 12 street pickup, AED 13 app booking
Sharjah fee	The trip passes through Sharjah	AED 20
Port Rashid	Pickup in the Port Rashid area	AED 25 starting fare
Salik and Darb	The car passes a toll gate	The gate’s toll, billed to you

RTA also lists two cases where the ride costs nothing: the meter is not running, or the taxi breaks down during the journey.

What is the per-km rate in Dubai?

RTA’s taxi service page was last updated on 29 September 2026. It lists starting fares, the minimum fare, the waiting charge and the Sharjah fee. Neither it nor the tariff page printed the charge per kilometre when we checked on 17 October 2026.

So the meter is the only exact source. Treat any per-km figure in an older news story as a past rate, not today’s.

Abu Dhabi does publish its rate, which gives a sense of scale. Abu Dhabi Mobility charges AED 1.82 a kilometre in its silver taxis, by day and by night. A 20 km daytime trip there comes to AED 5 to start plus AED 36.40 for distance: AED 41.40 before any waiting.

Starting fares by time and booking channel

The starting fare changes with how you get the taxi. App bookings follow the commuter peaks; street hails only change at 10 pm.

How you get the taxi	When	Starting fare
Street hail or rank (regular, family and Hatta taxis)	6 am to 10 pm, every day	AED 5
Street hail or rank	10 pm to 6 am	AED 5.50
People of Determination taxi, street pickup	Day / night	AED 8 / AED 9
App booking, Monday to Thursday	8 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 8 pm	AED 13
App booking, Monday to Thursday	10 am to 4 pm and 8 pm to 10 pm	AED 9
App booking, Friday	8 am to 10 am and 4 pm to midnight	AED 13
App booking, Saturday and Sunday	6 am to 4 pm / 4 pm to midnight	AED 9 / AED 13
App booking, overnight	10 pm to 6 am weekdays, midnight to 6 am Friday to Sunday	AED 10
Dubai airports (airport, family, female and People of Determination taxis)	All day	AED 20 regular car, AED 25 van
Port Rashid	All day	AED 25

Take a Tuesday at 9 am. A taxi booked in an app starts at AED 13, and the same car hailed outside your hotel starts at AED 5. On a 3 km ride that gap is most of the fare.

The minimum fare and the waiting charge

A street-hail trip costs at least AED 12, and an app booking at least AED 13. Short rides between Downtown hotels, Dubai Mall and Business Bay, which are 3 to 4 km apart, often end on the minimum.

Waiting costs 50 fils a minute in every type of taxi. Ten minutes of recorded waiting adds AED 5, and half an hour adds AED 15. Expect the most of it at the weekday peaks on Sheikh Zayed Road and the bridges over Dubai Creek.

A taxi from DXB: what goes on the meter

Dubai Taxi Company runs the ranks at every DXB terminal, 24 hours a day. Follow the taxi signs once you reach arrivals. RTA lists the airport start as AED 20 for a regular car and AED 25 for a van. Dubai Airports’ own taxi page gives AED 25, so check the meter when it starts.

The kilometre charge then depends on where you are going. These distances were measured with OpenStreetMap routing on 17 October 2026, without traffic.

From DXB to	From Terminal 1	From Terminal 3	Drive time without traffic
Deira, Gold Souk	8 km	17 km	9 to 31 min
Al Fahidi, Bur Dubai	8 km	19 km	10 to 32 min
Dubai World Trade Centre	11 km	19 km	12 to 32 min
Downtown, Dubai Mall	14 km	21 km	15 to 33 min
Business Bay	16 km	22 km	15 to 33 min
Mall of the Emirates	25 km	34 km	24 to 43 min
Dubai Marina, Marina Walk	32 km	40 km	28 to 48 min
Jumeirah Beach Residence	33 km	41 km	29 to 49 min
Atlantis The Palm	36 km	44 km	35 to 55 min

The working for any of them is the same: AED 20, plus the kilometre charge for the distance, plus 50 fils per waiting minute, plus any Salik gate. A 2 am run to the Marina adds almost no waiting. The same run at 5 pm on a Thursday can add 20 minutes of it, which is AED 10.

For a terminal-by-terminal breakdown, read our guide to taxi fares from Dubai’s airports. With two bags or fewer, the Red Line from Terminals 1 and 3 is the alternative, and our nol card guide explains which ticket to buy.

Tolls and area fees on top of the meter

• Salik. RTA states that toll gate charges are billed to the passenger. If you want to avoid them, tell the driver at the start, and accept a slower road. Our guide to Salik gates and who pays them shows which trips pass one.
• Sharjah. A Dubai taxi adds AED 20 when it passes through Sharjah. Downtown Dubai to central Sharjah is about 26 km.
• Darb in Abu Dhabi. Gates charge AED 4 per crossing from 7 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday. Sundays and public holidays are free, and the old daily cap went on 1 September 2025.
• Ghantoot. Since 4 May 2026, the Darb gate at Ghantoot on Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Street charges AED 4 at every hour. It sits on the main road from Dubai into Abu Dhabi.
• Peaks and events. RTA warns that fares may change at peak hours, at event locations and on New Year’s Eve.

How to book a taxi in Dubai

1. Hail one or use a rank. Hotel entrances, malls and the airport terminals have ranks. This is the AED 5 start by day.
2. S’hail. RTA’s own app books RTA taxis.
3. Careem. The app books RTA taxis under the name Hala Taxi.
4. Bolt, Zed and Yango. RTA lists these as e-hail channels too.
5. Uber. Uber’s Dubai page links to an Uber Taxi option alongside its own car classes.

App bookings start at AED 9 to AED 13, with a minimum of AED 13. How the apps compare with their own private cars is covered in Uber, Careem or a taxi: which costs less.

Ladies, family, van and limousine taxis

Dubai Taxi Company runs several taxi types beyond the standard car:

• Families and Ladies Taxi: female drivers, for women and families. At the airport it starts at AED 20 like any other airport taxi.
• People of Determination Taxi: built for accessibility, starting at AED 8 by day and AED 9 at night from the street.
• Van taxis: at Dubai’s airports a van starts at AED 25. Use one when 5 or 6 people travel with bags.
• Limousine, Ameera Limousine and hourly limousine: Ameera is DTC’s limousine for women.

Every RTA taxi has the same house rules: seat belts for all passengers, and no smoking, eating, drinking or pets.

A pre-booked limousine with a chauffeur from a licensed operator such as Assure is a different product. It is quoted for the route and the car, not metered.

Taxi fares in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah

Abu Dhabi Mobility publishes its full tariff, so a comparison is easy.

Abu Dhabi silver taxi	Day (6 am to 10 pm)	Night (10 pm to 6 am)
Flag fall	AED 5	AED 5.50
Per km	AED 1.82	AED 1.82
Waiting	50 fils a minute	50 fils a minute
Minimum fare	AED 12	AED 12
Booking fee	AED 4	AED 5
Airport taxi flag fall	AED 20	AED 20

Sharjah’s taxis run on Sharjah’s own tariff, which we have not reproduced here. A Dubai taxi crossing into Sharjah adds the AED 20 fee to the Dubai meter.

When a pre-booked car beats a run of taxis

A taxi is good value for one trip across town. The sums change when the day has several legs.

• Three or more stops. Each new taxi restarts the starting fare and the AED 12 minimum. A car with driver by the hour waits outside each stop instead.
• A family landing at night. Six people with six suitcases need a van taxi or two cars. A pre-booked airport transfer has the chauffeur waiting in arrivals with your name on a board.
• Abu Dhabi and beyond. The meter runs for the whole 139 km to central Abu Dhabi, plus Ghantoot and any Darb gate. A transfer is quoted before you leave.

Assure quotes each route on WhatsApp, 24 hours a day, and shows no fixed prices. For the full cost comparison, read chauffeur, taxi or Uber in Dubai. For every other way to move around the city, start with how to get around Dubai or the Dubai travel guide.